A Fashion Road Trip With Those Darlins

Tennessee's twangy rock'n'roll group Those Darlins dress like they sound—think `70s country singer-meets-glam rock ensembles that would make Marc Bolan, Loretta Lynn, and Stevie Nicks jealous. On the eve of a coast-to-coast tour promoting their sophomore album, the addicting Screws Get Loose, we caught up with the band—founders Nikki, Jessi, and Kelley Darlin recently added drummer Linwood Regensburg—to learn where they go to stock up on faded bell bottoms, lace bloomers, and suede moccasins.

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Diamond Star Halo Vintage, Nashville, TN"Libby Calloway's our Nashville vintage goddess," says Jessi. "She's clothed us for many photo shoots, including the shots inside our recently released album Screw Get Loose. The shop, located in East Nashville inside Fanny's House of Music, is full of tons of groovy threads and chunky brass jewelry. I snagged an awesome pair of vintage moccasins last time I was there, and a silk Chinese-inspired dress with gold threads. And come on, the name of the store is a reference to T. Rex lyrics...how much cooler can you get?"

Sugaree's Boutique, Murfreesboro, TN
"This store is as sweet as its name and offers a beautiful selection of dresses and girlie accessories," says Kelly. "It's located on the downtown square of Murfreesboro, TN, and is a place I shop regularly. I especially love their jewelry; my favorite necklace of all time—a triple locket I got from my boyfriend as a Christmas gift—is from there."

Style Station, West, Texas
"About halfway between Dallas and Austin we passed this building exploding with all things kitsch, and quickly got off at the next exit to sniff it out. We soon found we weren't the only band that had ever had the same urge—in fact, this guy has been collecting CD's from all the bands traveling the well-worn path through West, Texas, for years," says Jessi. "Lots of vintage goodies, [as well as] Texas-style leatherwear—boots, belts, bags galore. And the guy loves to make deals!"

Unique Thrift, Louisville, KY
"If you ever see this big yellow warehouse with red lettering as you are passing through Louisville, I highly recommend you stop," says Jessi. "A twenty dollar bill goes a loooong way in this place, and you're guaranteed to walk out with a plethora of treasures. I've been hitting up Unique Thrift since I was just a little kid, and at least a third of everything that I own was bought here. I got my first pair of white pumps, which I would pair with skinny jeans and baseball T's in high school (all from Unique!), tons of amazing old lady necklaces and sunglasses, amazing vintage clothes (and this place doesn't know the value of vintage—I'm talking cheap finds!), wigs, hats, scarves, furniture, anything you could imagine. You just have to have a lot of time on your hands because this place is huge. If you consider yourself a scavenger, this is your dream store. Start digging!"

Casablanca Vintage, Cincinnati, OH
"Every trip to Cincy includes a run to this spot on the north side," says Cincy. "Furs galore, vintage swimming trunks, relic—but never worn, still fresh in the box—shoes (and of course on-site cobbler extraordinaire Timothy Willig, in case your soles need some love) are but some of the killer finds held in Casablanca. Lots of costume apparel too, in case you need to dress up like Napoleon or Mae West."

This Way Out, Cleveland, OH
"This store is conveniently located under The Beachland Ballroom, a venue in Cleveland, and features clothing and records selected by several buyers who sell their collections there. The store is open during the shows and we shop every time we play there. My favorites from there are a sexy black dress covered in huge flat round sequins and a gold bolo tie with a surfer catching a wave on it."

Redoux Parlour, Eugene, OR
"Along with a good selection of vintage, this store features local designers and used clothes that are re-imagined into new pieces," says Kelly. "The owner [designed] and gave us some adorable bloomers made from bright colored fabric trimmed with wide lace. They treated us to whiskey and some ukulele tunes while we shopped. I especially love the light blue bathing suit I got that had a matching tutu attached around the waist."

Antone's Record Store, Austin, TX
"I found this record store during South by Southwest one year while wandering around killing time. There are a lot of record stores in this country that I love and are amazing, but this one had a special dusty charm that really stood out to me," says Jessi. "The store's specialty is used vinyl, especially blues and Texas artists, but they also had a great selection of new and used CDs and some really awesome used books (I got Tina Turner's autobiography for four bucks). They definitely don't have anything and everything, but what they do have is a carefully selected collection of incredible music...and it is all perfectly priced."

Paxton Gate, San Francisco, CA
"I was wandering around San Francisco looking for something to do when I stumbled upon Paxton Gate," says Jessi. "When I walked in and saw the wall-to-wall explosion of taxidermy animals, plants, shells, bones, fossils, and all things natural, I knew I had found something worth checking out. It's kinda like stumbling upon a witch's den—there's one wall of every kind of animal skull you could think of, a real stuffed horse with a unicorn horn, drawers full of rocks, gems, fossils, and jars of random body parts everywhere. Oh, and did I mention the glass case full of amazing jewelry? They've got wishbone necklaces and molar rings and seashell earrings. I walked out of there with a stuffed puffer fish, a couple porcupine claws, and a set of Edward Gorey tarot cards. This witch is definitely going back for more supplies."

Ike's Underground, Charlottesville, VA
"Ike's Underground is small and packed in tight with interesting finds," says Kelley. "I found a really cute vintage wall clock shaped like a water pitcher tilted on its side. It's olive green and yellow and matches the `70s decor in my kitchen"

Gomez Art Supply, Lincoln, NE
"Nikki and I ran into this little art supply store in the middle of the tour looking for new drawing pens," says Jessi. "It's full of the things that make us drool. I got an awesome miniature blank-paged orange notebook for writing songs.